Shark Sanctuary Established in British Virgin Islands

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What's the best place to live if you're a shark? (Hint: It's also
a pretty great place to live if you're a human.) The British
Virgin Islands. The archipelago recently became the third
Caribbean territory to declare its waters a safe haven for
sharks.

The decision to establish a shark
sanctuary in the British Virgin Islands was made official on
May 22 by cabinet members of the British-controlled territory.
The designation prohibits commercial fishing of all shark and ray
species throughout the territory's 60 or so islands and islets.

The ban on shark fishing covers nearly 31,000 square miles
(80,117 square kilometers) of water and also prohibits the sale
and trade of shark products on the islands. [ On
the Brink: A Gallery of Wild Sharks ]

In 2013, government officials, business leaders and
representatives from private organizations gathered to establish
guidelines for protecting marine and coastal environments in the
Caribbean. The summit was part of the Caribbean Challenge
Initiative, a conservation-focused program that was launched in
2008.

The British Virgin Islands now join the Bahamas and Honduras —
which both established shark sanctuaries in 2011 — in a shared
initiative to safeguard the region's sharks.

"Our people are committed to sustainably managing our resources,"
Kedrick Pickering, the British Virgin Island's deputy premier and
minister for natural resources and labor, said in a statement.
"We recognize that sharks are important to our oceans and our
reefs and that the best way to manage their populations is to let
them fulfill their ecological role as apex predators."

The British Virgin Islands are home to a variety of shark
species, many of which are classified as
threatened, or near-threatened, with extinction, according to
the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of
Threatened Species. Some of the sharks that inhabit the waters
around the island chain include the oceanic whitetip, scalloped
hammerhead, tiger and Caribbean reef sharks.

As apex predators, these sharks play an important role in
maintaining the balance of the ocean environment by regulating
the variety and abundance of species in the food chain,
researchers have said. Furthermore, in places where the local
economy depends on the commercial fish trade — such as the
British Virgin Islands — sharks are instrumental in maintaining
healthy populations of commercially important species of fish.

Despite their role as guardians of entire marine ecosystems, a
2013 study, funded in part by the Pew Charitable Trusts, found
that an estimated
100 million sharks are killed each year in commercial
fisheries. This same study linked a dwindling shark population to
the collapse of marine habitats.

Imogen Zethoven, director of global conservation for the Pew
Charitable Trusts, said the British Virgin Islands should be
applauded for protecting its valuable shark population, and
expressed hope that other nations will soon follow in the island
territory's footsteps.

Several other nations and territories have already committed to
the Caribbean Challenge Initiative, including the Dominican
Republic, Grenada, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, St. Kitts and Nevis, St.
Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. All parties have agreed
to establish regional shark protections by May 2015, according to
Pew officials.